History that binds: With Bhagat Singh’s kin in tow, farmers mark ‘Pagdi Sambhal Diwas’

NEW DELHI: On the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Ajit Singh, uncle of revolutionary Bhagat Singh, the protesting farmers at Singhu border observed the Pagdi Sambhal Diwas on Tuesday. Ajit Singh had spearheaded the Pagdi Sambhal Jatta movement in 1907 against the agrarian laws introduced by Britishers and was an apt inspiration for the farmers currently protesting against the central government’s three new farm laws enacted in September last year.
Bhagat Singh’s family members were present on the main dais at Singhu border on Tuesday.Abhay Singh Sandhu, the martyr’s nephew, told TOI that history was repeating itself, recalling how, as part of Ajit Singh’s Pagdi Sambhal Jatta movement, farmers had agitated against the Punjab Land Colonisation Bill, Bari Doab Canal Act and Punjab Land Alienation Act.
Sandhu elaborated, “The British introduced three agrarian laws to exploit farmers and we today have three farm laws that will burden and exploit farmers. The struggle against the repeal of the British farm laws went on for eight months. Indians who were in the British army refused to fight against the farmers. Though Ajit Singh was arrested and sent to jail, the British were forced to withdraw the agrarian laws.” Sandhu who joined the farmers' protest on Monday night, having visited Singhu border earlier too.
Bhagat Singh’s niece, Gurjeet Kaur Dhatt, 72, who has been camping at Singhu since December, said the government would be compelled to repeal the black farm laws if everyone followed the examples of Bhagat Singh and Ajit Singh. A native of Hoshiarpur, Dhatt, daughter of Bibi Parkash, the revolutionary’s sister, said, “The colonial government introduced three farm laws that threatened seizure of land, prohibited farmers from building houses on their land and stopped land ownership passing to younger brothers on the death of the older brothers. We are today fighting similarly against three black laws that threaten farmers’ ownership rights.”
Dhatt, who has listened to her grandmother, Vidyawati, telling her stories about the Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, said, “Lala Lajpat Rai also joined the movement. Ajit Singh once gave an eight-hour speech against the farm laws and stirred up the public, leaving the British scared.”
She continued, “Ajit Singh and Bhagat Singh are our icons. They inspire us to fight for the withdrawal of these black laws. We can win this fight for our rights when the entire country is united.”
Meanwhile, commemorating the birth anniversary of Ajit Singh, farmers draped turbans on their heads in honour of the hero of anti-British farm movement. Hardeep Singh, a farmer from Punjab, said, “As the farmers fought the British over the anti-farmer laws, we too must continue our non-violent stir till our demands are met. Observing Pagdi Sambhal Diwas on Tuesday has motivated us and strengthened our movement.”